Wingard Jr, Jacob Henry, born 08-08-1922, in Beccaria, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, 
United States, to Jacob Henry Wingard Sr (1869–1942) 
and his wife Emily, born Date Wingard (1891–1943). Jacob joined the US Army on 14-12-1942 from Centre County, Pennsylvania. Jacob served in HQ Company, 3rd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 
101st Airborne Division 
as a Sergeant during World War II.
After heavy training Sergeant Jacob H. Wingard, on 17-09-1944, jumped out the door of a C-47 transport 
aircraft flying over southern Holland. The 22-year old was one of 12 soldiers to leap out of the aircraft—among the 34,600 paratroopers dropping as part of Operation Market Garden, a large-scale British-led Allied operation to liberate Holland from Nazi occupation. Once on the ground and assembled, the 3rd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, under command of Colonel Johnson, Howard Ravenscroft “Jumpy”, 
101st Airborne Division—including Wingard—was to secure the town of Eerde, located three kilometers southwest of Veghel. Other elements of the 101st Airborne, under command of General Taylor, Maxwell Davenport, 
would focus on Son and St. Oedenrode.
By the afternoon, 3rd battalion had secured Eerde, forming a defensive perimeter and digging in around the St. Antonius windmill. 
Throughout the night and through the following morning, German units repeatedly attacked the battalion’s positions, with many of the engagements devolving into fierce close quarters fighting in the town’s houses and sheds. The windmill also suffered extensive damage, from small arms, tank fire, and from shrapnel when a M4 Sherman tank 
was destroyed only feet from its base.
Death and burial ground of Wingard Jr, Jacob Henry.
The defense of Eerde became primarily the responsibility of the 1st Battalion. But soon support from British tanks was requested. These came in the form of A Squadron, 44th Royal Tank Regiment 
under command of Major-General Gerald Charles Hopkinson, 
from Veghel. Hopkinson survived the war and died 02-06-1989 (aged 79) in Osborne House, Isle of Wight .They reported seeing a first Panther tank at 9:40 am. Shortly after 11:00 a short time in succession three tanks of A Squadron were taken out by the Germans. American sources then indicate that the British tanks withdrew and left the fight to the Americans. The British themselves indicate that they will retire to Eerde at 11:15 am and then plan a new joint attack at 1:43 pm with the entire 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment. However, this attack does not start until later in the afternoon.
During the morning’s fighting about eleven o’çlock, Wingard, his platoon leader, and another paratrooper, Marvin Weathers, right 
climbed into the windmill, using its elevated vantage point to direct artillery fire onto attacking German soldiers, who were threatening to overrun several areas along the 3/501st’s lines. At around 11:00 am, a German sniper saw Jacob Wingard at the windmill’s upstairs window and fired, hitting the American squarely in the chest. Wingard collapsed and died, age 22, shortly thereafter. Faced with increasing numbers of German units pressing against American positions, the battalion was forced to withdraw out of the town and towards Veghel. The Germans soon recaptured and occupied Eerde.
The Windmill of Eerde was destroyed on 24-09-1944 during the battle for the sand dunes. On the mill is a plaque with the names of the fallen soldiers.
The St. Antonius Windmill now houses a memorial to Wingard and a monument to the men of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment. The monument, unveiled in 1981, is the site of an annual service in September, and the windmill was restored in 
2011. 
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